I bought this as a travel tripod, and in all honesty, it fits the bill perfectly, it is light, compact, easy to use and the bonus is the monopod which is massive. I am sure this will become my main tripod most of the time in the future as it is so portable, it seems to be quite stable, and I have used it in strong wind with a large camera and lens combination with no issues. The pegs that hold the legs at different angles look a bit fragile, but only time will tell with those, and I won't mark the tripod down all the time they are working, it looks well constructed, the bag is also of high quality.So you must be wondering why the missing star?It would have go the 5 stars if it wasn't for the ball head, I thought at first it was ok, but the panning doesn't lock completely, it is dampened though which is a nice touch, the real problem though was when I tried to take a picture in portrait mode, you can't, the ball head doesn't allow the camera to reach anything near level (see image) I did change the base plate to a Manfrotto, but even with the original plate it would not get any closer, for me, this is a big problem and means I will have to purchase a different head adding to my expense.I would still recommend the tripod to anyone thinking of a budget carbon fibre tripod for travel, at this price it really is good value.